How to Play Slap Jack

Dealing the Cards

Remove the Jokers from the deck. The Joker cards are not required when playing Slap Jack. As you do this, you can ensure all 4 Jacks are in your deck before you shuffle the cards. There are 2 Jokers in a standard deck of playing cards.

Shuffle the cards thoroughly. To do this, split the deck into 2 sections, and grip each section in 1 hand. Gently bend each half of the deck, and release the cards so they restack into 1 pile one-by-one. You can do this 1-3 times until you feel your cards are shuffled adequately. Alternatively, you can cut the deck and restack the sections repeatedly in different spots to easily shuffle the cards.

Give each player 1 card at a time until all of the cards are dealt. If you are the dealer, place 1 card face-down in front of the player on your left. Continue dealing 1 card at a time to all of the players in a clockwise direction, including yourself. Do this until you run out of cards. You want each player to have the same number of cards. For example, if you are playing with 4 people total, each player should have 13 cards.

Organize your hand into a neat pile without looking at the cards. To easily keep track of your cards, bunch the stack together so they form 1 neat pile. As you do this, keep the cards face-down so they remain a mystery. If you peek at your cards, you could be considered a cheater!

Playing the Game

Have the player to the left of the dealer place 1 card face-up in the middle. The first player is typically the player to the left of the dealer. They should lift up 1 card from the end closest to the middle of the group and quickly place it face-up on the table. EXPERT TIP Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Slap Jack is one of the most fun two-player card games. It's easy to learn and fast-paced, making it perfect for a quick and exciting game. Grab a deck of cards and challenge a friend to some friendly and harmless hand-slapping competition.

Play 1 card per person working in a clockwise direction. Once the first player finishes their turn, the player to their left must flip over 1 card into the middle of the table. Do this for each player, going in a clockwise direction. If you are the dealer, your turn will be immediately before the first player goes again.

Slap the Jack card as soon as a player flips it over. As the other players take their turns, keep an eye out for a Jack card to appear. As soon as you see the Jack, slap the card as quickly as you can! Aim to get your hand directly onto the Jack card before anyone else. You don't have to wait until it's your turn to slap the Jack. Slap Jack is a very fast game, so get ready for things to move rather quickly.

Take the cards underneath the Jack and shuffle them into your pile. If you are the first person to slap the Jack, you are the winner of the hand. This means you won all of the cards underneath the Jack. Scoop up the new cards, and shuffle them with your existing cards. The number of cards you win depends on how many cards are played since the last Jack made an appearance.

Start a new pile in the middle if you slapped the deck. If you slapped the Jack and won the hand, you can play 1 card after you organize your pile. This starts the pile over again, so the next players can build upon it.

Give 1 card to another player if you slap a card other than the Jack. If you hit a card before the Jack is played or slap another card while trying to get to the Jack, you must give 1 of the cards in your pile to the player who played that card. For example, if you hit the 8 of Spades instead of the Jack of Clubs, give 1 of your cards to the player who played the 8 of Spades.

Winning Slap Jack

Try to be the first player to slap the Jack. Multiple players may slap the Jack, and you only get the cards in the pile if your hand lands on the Jack first. As you wait, your hand must remain toward your pile of cards, rather than lifted in the air in anticipation.

Slap the next Jack when you run out of cards to stay in the game. If all of your cards wind up in the pile, that’s okay! You have 1 more round to redeem yourself and stay in the game. Be the first to slap the Jack, and collect all of the cards in the pile. If you do not slap the next Jack first, you are out of the game. If you have zero cards, be careful not to slap a card that is not a Jack. If you do this, you are out of the game.

Collect all of the cards to win the game. Continue playing the game until the other players run out of cards. The first person to get all of the cards in the deck is the winner!